Muse
by Hilarious-Mayhem
Summary: Inspiration can be a powerful thing, be it good or bad.


**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from, "Rise of the Guardians" mentioned throughout this story. **

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

_Her mother was a kind woman. In a time with so much cruelty, it was truly an admirable trait. _

_She was a healer of the sick, a beacon of light in the darkness. _

_The plague had spread like a wildfire, bringing with it the sick and poor. Nobody would dare to help these unfortunate beings as they lay in their own filth and waste for fear of contamination._

_The Black Death as they called it._

_Fear ravaged the world, fear of death. _

_And as human nature would have it, the always wanted something to blame. _

_Her mother, a kind Jewish woman, tended to those on their deathbed. In this act came a kindness and a sort of sadness. Thalia had always feared that her mother would develop the sickness. She had no one else in the world, and without her mother would perish._

"_Mama, what do you think?" Thalia questioned her mother with a smile, her painting propped upon the dusty windowsill that overlooked the streets of Toulon, France. It depicted the Greek god of Comedy, whom she had been named after. Her mother was an avid reader and philosopher, taking her love for mythology along to her daughter. _

"_Chéri. It is beautiful. I have such a talented daughter!" Her mother cooed, stroking her hair. "Now if she would only find herself a proper husband!" _

"_If only the men around here weren't such a bore!" Thalia pouted, flipping her dark hair across her shoulder. Sixteen was a proper age to get married, but she couldn't even imagine it for herself. Her mother thought differently._

_Thalia was a pretty girl at her age. Her mother always told her that looking into her eyes was as good as looking into the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. She was very pale, with a small pointed nose, and dark hair. She could have been a twin of her mother, a woman who had countless men vie for her attention, but refused to marry another after her departed father._

_Thalia knew it was hard for her mother raise her alone. She was grateful and gained the inspiration to go through the difficulties of life from her mother._

"_If you say so Chéri."_

_vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv v_

_The rumors spread quicker than wildfire._

"_Those damn Jews are responsible!"_

"_They've been poisoning our well, spreading the death!"_

"_Burn them!"_

_vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv _

_They came in the midst of the night, as she and her mother were sleeping in their beds. Her dreams had been plagued with nightmares, causing her a restless sleep._

_She heard the shouts from downstairs. In her drowsiness, she thought nothing of it. Only the sound of the door shattering awoke her. Footsteps thumped up her stair, busting through the bedroom door with torches held in each of their hands. Men surrounded her and her mother's bed and she let out an ear-shattering scream, thrashing as she felt two men grab. One held firmly onto her arms and one her kicking feet. _

"_Stop struggling, you dumb bitch!" One man said, striking Thalia in the face with all of his might, leaving her head spinning._

_The men dragged her and mother out the room, putting burlap sacks over their heads and tying her feet and hands together. It was hard to breath, only her hyperventilated breathing and the screams of her mother to accompany her. She could feel herself being thrust into the cold air and tossed into the back of a carriage. _

_The sound of shouts broke out of the silence. Terrified, Thalia thrashed her head, pulling on the restraints, in the process making her wrists bleed. She cried, her tears pooling around her mouth._

"_Burn them! Burn the damned Jews!" She heard a voice shout. She recognized it as Mr. Quinn who ran the local shop. She remembered visiting him as a child. He would always give her sweets, telling her what a good child she was._

_The bag was lifted from her head and she turned her head to anxiously look at her mother. Her mother's face held dread, the pain on her beautiful face making her seem older, more fragile._

_She seemed to know what was happening, because she burst out into hysterics, tugging at the bonds that held her as if it would help. Thalia looked out to the crowd, seeing a wave of angry faces staring back at her. _

_Friends._

_Neighbors._

_Teachers._

_She looked over to her mother, who was weeping. _

"_Thalia." Her mother said beside her. Ten people lay beside her and her mother, kneeled on the ground. Each one as scared as the other. _

"_I love you my daughter. Look at me. No matter what happens." Her mother said in broken sobs, trying to reach for her daughter despite her bound hands. "I never knew…I never knew…"_

_After that, Thalia could only remember the screams of pain as each Jew was led up to pyre to be burnt, each scream making her shake with fear. She couldn't make herself look, the pain in the screams were too much for her beating heart. She felt sweat drip down her brow, sweat running into her already raw wrists, causing excruciating pain. The crowd cheered in excitement. Thalia didn't understand. _

_It took at least an hour, but last it was her and her mother's turn._

_She watched as they set up the new pyre, removing the burnt body that was once another human being, but now was reduced to a charred form. The men forced her mother onto the sturdy piece of wood, binding her hands. _

_The same was done to Thalia, the rope engraving itself into her wrist even deeper. She looked out to the crowd, their faces expectant for the last two victims. She could even make out some of the supposed "enforcers of law" in the crowd along with the others. They did nothing to help._

_Thalia cried out to the open air as they put the torches to the wood, feeling the heat grow closer and closer._

_It's amazing how beautiful a night it can be when such a dreadful thing can happen, as if it didn't matter. These ten lives affected nothing in the world._

_She looked into the sky, trying to ignore the jeering faces in the ground. The moon shone brightly upon this event. It was a clear luminous being in the darkness and Thalia found herself marveling at its beauty. If this was the last sight of her life then so be it. _

_The flames licked up Thalia's dress and she heard the screams of her mother beside her. Her heart thumped in her chest. She screamed, tugging uselessly as she felt her clothing sizzle across her skin. It was something she would never forget._

_She looked up one final time at the iridescent moon, and felt the pain take over._

_The crowd cheered._


End file.
